Perfect World
by AaylaSecura
Summary: All his life he was forced to serve someone. A slave master. The Jedi. The Sith. Now with a chance to relive his life, will Anakin Skywalker choose to make any changes or will unwanted history be doomed to repeate itself?
1. The Overseer

**Perfect World  
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**Summary: All his life he was forced to serve someone. A slave master. The Jedi. The Sith. Now with a chance to relive his life, will Anakin Skywalker choose to make any changes; or will unwanted history be doomed to repeat itself?

**Author's Note:**

**Okay. I apologize for this chapter beforehand. It's fairly short. However, it's only the beginning; and I think it was a good way to kick things off. The next one should be coming soon. I promise it will be longer. Right now is really just experimentation to see what people think. Review and let me know what you think. Is it a good idea? Is it well-written? Do you have any suggestions? I'm open-minded, and I promise I don't bite. P But seriously, I enjoy getting feedback. Who wouldn't? And if you do review, you might just find a reply in the next chapter. :)**

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Chapter One

The Overseer**  
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Anakin Skywalker paced around nervously, anxiously awaiting the answer from the Overseer regarding his unusual request. His loving wife stood in the room with him, giving soothing words and offering her comfort in any way she could.

"Don't worry, honey," she assured him. "I'm sure He'll do what's best for you and everyone else."

"But what if what's best for me and everyone else isn't reliving my life?" Anakin asked.

He bit his knuckle and stared at the ground with furrowed eyebrows. He'd made many mistakes in his life, and when he died, he was able to look back and see all of them and realize just how many had been made. He also learned the truth to things. He learned that he hadn't killed Padme, at least not the way Palpatine had told him he had. He learned that when he had turned to the Dark Side, he had become the very thing that had killed the woman that was the most important person in the galaxy to him.

After reviewing his life and seeing everything that had happened, he had made a request to the Overseer. The Overseer was the ultimate authority, the One that allowed people to become one with the Force. Anakin had made the request to relive his life, to go back and change things. How would things have turned out if he hadn't made all the choices that he had? His request was the first ever of its kind in the history of the galaxies, and it was pretty extreme. The Overseer had retreated to a large room equivalent to the Meditating Rooms in the Jedi Temple to think about the request.

"Then I'm sure that He'll help you cope with it," Padme replied to his earlier question, coming up and putting her hands on his shoulders, leaning against his back.

Anakin was startled by the contact, and he jumped ever so slightly before stopping and putting his right hand on Padme's hand that was on his left shoulder. Looking around, he sighed. "I know. It's just… I'm so nervous. I _really_ want to do this. I want to know what life would have been like, how much pain I could have saved if I hadn't made those choices."

At that moment, the large double doors opened, startling both Anakin and Padme. With wide eyes, both heads shot up to see the Overseer walking solemnly out of the room. Neither adult said a thing. They knew what to do. They would wait just as solemnly for an answer, each holding his or her breath.

The Overseer sighed and looked each right in the eye. "I've decided," he said, his focus settling directly on Anakin. "You are to relive your life."

Padme and Anakin both finally allowed themselves to breath, hugging each other and smiling. Anakin couldn't believe he'd been given this chance. He was extremely happy.

The Overseer also smiled. "You leave right away," he told Anakin, his deep voice booming through the room. "You will be sent back to the first moment that your life changed forever. Then you make your own choices. I warn you. It will not be easy."

Anakin nodded, letting Padme go and stepping forward. "I understand," he told the Overseer. "I am ready." How many times had he said those words?

"Very well. Good luck, Anakin Skywalker." With that, the Overseer pointed his hand; and after a flash of light, Anakin Skywalker was gone.


	2. Life Begins

**Perfect World**

Summary: All his life he was forced to serve someone. A slave master. The Jedi. The Sith. Now with a chance to relive his life, will Anakin Skywalker choose to make any changes; or will unwanted history be doomed to repeat itself?

**Author's Note:**

**Okay. Sorry this took so long. Things have been a little busy lately, and this is a little harder to write than I thought. Well, scratch that. Some parts are easy. Some parts are harder. Anyway, I hope this somewhat makes up for it. Episode I is one of the harder parts to write. So I'm sorry if the chapters aren't up very quickly. I'll try, though. I'm on Christmas break now; so that will help out. I have a little more time. Well, without further ado, chapter two. (I did not mean for that to rhyme. P) Enjoy! And don't forget to review! All authors need reviews. It's our main stimulation to continue. :)**

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Chapter Two

Life Begins

Nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker sat on the edge of a large front desk, staring at the fourteen-year-old girl that had come in with a potential customer and a strange-looking creature.

_Whoah. That was weird,_ the boy thought to himself. Here he was, back at the moment that his life had completely changed. "Are you an Angel?" came out of his mouth. It almost surprised him, but he figured in this part at least, he could play it out as it had been. Besides, just because he'd been granted the request to relive his life didn't mean that he'd come back with all the power and intelligence he had possessed at the time of his death.

The girl, who had been looking around the shop curiously, stopped and brought her head down to look at him. With a smile, she asked, "What?"

"An angel," Anakin repeated. "I've heard the Deep Space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego… I think. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe." Way to woo a girl. Well, it had worked before, and he definitely knew that Padme was the most beautiful creature in the world, even more beautiful than an Angel. He'd never seen them, but he just knew it.

"You're a funny little boy," the girl, Padme, replied, still smiling. "How do you know so much?"

Anakin gave a slight shrug. "I listen to all the pilots that come in here. Someday, I'm going to be a pilot myself." He pushed out his chest a little proudly. It was true, and he knew he was and would be one of the greatest pilots ever.

"How long have you been flying?" Padme asked, a little confused that a boy so young would be so sure that he was going to be a pilot.

"Since I was very little… three, I think," Anakin replied, giving another extremely small shrug. "My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the podraces."

"You're a slave?" Padme asked, now standing right next to him and somewhat leaning on the counter.

"I'm a boy. You said so yourself," Anakin replied. Even knowing that he wouldn't be a slave much longer, having it brought up still flared him up. "My name is Anakin."

"I'm sorry," Padme apologized sincerely. She looked around again. "I don't fully understand. This is a strange place to me."

For a moment, Anakin and Padme just stared at each other; but it was quickly interrupted by the strange creature: Jar-jar Binks. He had activated one of the pit droids, and they were now arguing. Anakin had to stifle his laughter at this sight. It had amused him when he'd first seen it, too; but at that time, he'd been a little to preoccupied to really care. With what had he been preoccupied? The main thing—or really person—had been Padme, but he already knew that she was the one for him. "Push the nose!" he finally told Jar-jar.

After a quick confused look from the Gungan, Anakin watched Jar-jar do what he'd been told; and immediately, the pit droid collapses onto the floor into a plate-like shape, only the head showing. His gaze switched from the droid to Jar-jar and back again a couple times before refocusing on Padme, a smile pasted on his face.

It was about this time that the original customer, who Anakin knew was a Jedi by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn, came back with Watto trailing him. "We're leaving," Qui-Gon told Padme, hardly stopping to give her time to register what he'd said.

Anakin watched Padme give him an apologetic look before turning around to follow Qui-Gon. "What's your name?" Anakin called, knowing that it might seem kind of weird to her if he called her by her name without having asked it of her.

Padme turned around quickly, a smile on her face. "Padme," she replied. She then started walking backwards instead of turning around. "I'm glad to have met you, Anakin." After saying this, she turned around.

"I was glad to have met you, too!" Anakin called.

Watto said something about outlanders underestimating them, but Anakin wasn't really paying attention. He shrugged. "I think they were nice," he said in the Toydarian's language.

Watto grumbled. "Clean the racks," he told the boy in his native language. "Then you can go home."

In spite of himself, Anakin let out a "yippee" and then rushed off to do the chore ordered of him before starting off home.

As Anakin started off toward home, he anxiously anticipated his next encounter with Padme, Qui-Gon, Jar-jar, and the droid that they had brought with them. He remembered exactly where it was and what it was. This exciting time in his life had been burned into his memory forever. He never forgot it.

As expected, Anakin turned a corner to see a small crowd beginning to gather around an interesting fight. Jar-jar had tried to take a snack, but had instead ended up flinging it into a Dugg's drink, an especially notorious Dugg named Sebulba, who never tired of cheating in the podraces to win every single one. Anakin himself had been subjected to his feats quite a few times. Well, it was time to stop heading down memory lane and time to intervene.

Anakin spoke in Sebulba's language. "Careful, Sebulba," he told the Dugg. "He's a big-time outlander. I'd hate to see you diced before we race again." There was a smugness to the boy's voice and a smile on his face, for he knew that Sebulba could not hurt him here.

A sneer came over the ugly Dugg's face. "Next time we race, boy, it will be the end of you," he warned. "If you weren't a slave, I'd squash you now."

Anakin held his smile in check. "Yeah," he said casually. "It'd be a pity if you had to pay for me."

At this, Sebulba walked away and Qui-Gon walked up. He looked curiously at Jar-jar and then at Anakin, and Anakin explained what had happened. Qui-Gon was not too pleased to hear that Jar-jar had once again gotten himself into trouble on this sparsely populated planet.

Anakin wasn't quite sure how, but he ended up walking with Qui-Gon and his group, and they ended up in front of one of his friends: an old lady sitting behind a small desk selling products along the streets of Mos Espa, if they could be called that.

The two talked with each other for a few moments before the old woman looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes a bit. Then she returned her gaze to Anakin. "Storm's coming, Ani," she warned him. "You'd better get home quick."

Anakin turned to Qui-Gon and the others in the group. Before talking, however, he hesitated a moment. This is where it all had started. This is where he had become the object of attention of the Jedi. He had the ability to change it all. All his life he had been forced to serve someone. A slave master. The Jedi. The Sith. For once, he just wanted to be free. For once, he wanted to see what it was like to serve himself.

Then again, he couldn't just not ask them. For one thing, they were the ones that freed him to begin with. For another, there was absolutely no way that they would make it to their ship before the sandstorm overtook them and did all sorts of damage.

His decision was made. "Do you have shelter?" he asked.

"We'll head back to our ship," Qui-Gon replied.

"Is it far?" Anakin persisted.

This time, Padme replied. "On the outskirts."

"You'll never reach the outskirts in time!" Anakin exclaimed. "Sandstorms are very, very dangerous. Come on! I'll take you back to my place." He'd already started walking even as he said this.

It didn't take long for them to reach Anakin's house, but the entire time in Anakin's mind was spent debating. After he allowed Qui-Gon to free him, what would he do then? Becoming a Jedi was a huge commitment, one that he hadn't quite fully understood the first time he'd gone through life. Although he was still a lot less intelligent than he'd been at his death, he realized much more how big a commitment becoming a Jedi was. What would it be like if he chose not to join the Jedi? He could always change his mind after Qui-Gon had freed him. Then he could make a living, marry Padme, free his mother, and live happily ever after… or so he thought.

"Mom! Mom! I'm home!" Anakin called as they walked out of the howling wind and into the small quarters. As soon as Shmi appeared, Anakin explained. "These are my friends, Mom."

Qui-Gon introduced himself and the others. "I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. This is Padme and our droid R2-D2."

"Oh! I'm building a droid!" Anakin excitedly told Padme, proud of his work. "You wanna see? Come on! I'll show you 3PO!" With that, he grabbed her hand and led her to his room. Well, it sounded a little childish; but at least it would buy him time with her. And for the time being, he didn't have much to worry about.


End file.
